Paladin of a Ruined Order - Chapter 111

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

Chapter 111: Human Discipline

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Elbridge’s group headed north, following the three elves: Selene, Johannes, and Aurelius.

Marcus had shown little interest in elves until now, but the moment they decided to travel together, he changed his attitude and began chatting with them in a friendly manner.

“You two are brothers?”

“That’s right.”

It wasn’t because he particularly wanted to get close to them.

Marcus simply believed that any experienced Mercenary had to look into their traveling companions.

The two male elves, Johannes and Aurelius, were brothers, while Selene was a close relative.

They were technically relatives, but their ages were close enough that they had grown up like siblings.

“What brought people from Thornbush Forest all the way to the Norens area?”

“Demons have been appearing around the forest more and more often. We left the forest after being ordered to find out what was happening.”

“Sounds like Thornbush Forest is in pretty bad shape.”

“We’re holding on for now... But the Sentinel is deeply concerned. The situation really is dangerous.”

“Hmm.”

Marcus nodded a few times before asking Selene another question.

“Selene, you said you saw Sir Elbridge when you were young. How did that happen?”

“When I was really young... I must’ve been around forty.”

Really young. And forty.

Those two mismatched phrases gave Marcus a strange sense of confidence.

By elven standards, wasn’t his life in his late thirties only just beginning? Maybe he hadn’t needed to blame himself or feel anxious over having lived such an unimpressive life...

Selene continued.

“Humans often used the outskirts of Thornbush Forest as a safe zone. We met Elbridge among the Paladins who had retreated into the forest.”

“Did you have some kind of connection?”

Selene shook her head a few times.

“Elbridge was simply the human I approached out of curiosity. Back then, I thought he was much older than me. He was far stronger than ordinary people, and he looked more mature too. I thought it was because he was an adult... Then I found out he was twenty. He was completely a child.”

Elbridge’s expression turned subtle.

Put into words, it would probably have meant, ‘Ah, you were those kids?’

“Well, if forty is young for elves, then twenty...”

“That’s right. Even at the earliest, elves aren’t recognized as adults until they’re eighty or a hundred. Back then, Elbridge motivated us... Now we’ve all become Pre-Sentinels. We made the effort ourselves, but Elbridge was the reason we started.”

“Pre-Sentinels?”

Elbridge had said that Sentinels, or guardians, were among the strongest beings in the world regardless of race. Yet from Marcus’s experienced eye, the three of them did not seem to be at that level.

That didn’t mean they were ordinary.

It only meant they weren’t strong enough to be compared to people like Elbridge or Rombel.

The three elves were closer to Marcus than Elbridge in skill. At least their abilities were still within the bounds of common sense.

And they were Sentinel candidates.

Just as Marcus’s opinion of Sentinels was about to drop a little, Elbridge spoke as if he had read his thoughts.

“The difference between a Pre-Sentinel and a Sentinel is enormous. As great as the difference in their experience.”

“Well, I suppose so. The three of you are a little over two hundred, while elves live around eight hundred or a thousand years... So there could be a difference of about five hundred years?”

Elbridge shook his head.

“Marcus, do you know what the Goddess of Thornbush’s signature divine power is?”

“How would I know?”

“Lifespan.”

“Ah, so that’s why elves live so long.”

“No. Elves naturally live for around eight hundred to a thousand years.”

Marcus was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, but a moment later, he understood.

Elves naturally lived for eight hundred or a thousand years, and the Goddess of Thornbush promised an even longer lifespan than that.

‘...Then how long do elves who receive that divine power live?’

Elbridge continued explaining.

“The Thornbush Church is not classified as a combat church. That is because the divine power granted by the Goddess of Thornbush is not directly connected to combat. Still, the god capable of raising the strongest believers in the world is undoubtedly Thorn...”

- ...

Sensing the goddess’s presence, Elbridge naturally changed course.

“No. It is undoubtedly the Goddess of the Rusted Shield, and the next in line is the Goddess of Thornbush. She allows her believers to steadily build their strength over extremely long periods of time.”

“Isn’t that divine power excessively strong? I heard the Goddess of Thornbush doesn’t possess an especially large number of seats.”

“That is why there aren’t many believers who can receive it. As far as I know, only three elves have received the divine power of longevity, and they are all Sentinels.”

The elves nodded.

“You know quite a lot.”

Marcus was impressed inwardly.

The Order of the Rusted Shield was in a league of its own, but didn’t that mean the Thornbush Church was also quite extreme when it came to concentrating divine power on a few people?

“As far as I know, two of the three Sentinels are even the first Sentinels. Since the Goddess of Thornbush ascended to heaven, Sentinels have only been replaced once.”

“That’s incredible. Eternal youth.”

Elbridge smiled.

“It isn’t eternal youth. They grow old too, though slowly. If you see an elf in Thornbush Forest who looks older than the other elves, that person is a Sentinel.”

Marcus made up his mind.

If he met an old elf, he would make sure to get on their good side.

* * *

The North’s situation was far more serious than the East’s.

It was easy to see that the land was becoming difficult for people to live in.

Small cities and villages where people had lived until recently had been destroyed and abandoned. No wonder Norens City had been filled with so many refugees.

Abandoned villages were better, at least.

Villages that had not been abandoned, where people had failed to flee in time, were littered with half-rotted corpses.

Even during their exhausting journey, Elbridge’s group recovered the abandoned bodies.

“I’m dying, I’m dying...”

Recovering bodies was not their only task as they traveled.

Elbridge’s group had to fight numerous large and small battles. They had not encountered any demons yet, but they ran into demonic beasts several times a day.

Marcus killed thirteen or fourteen demonic beasts in that time. Though he constantly whined that he was dying, he still fought remarkably well.

‘He was an ordinary Mercenary just last spring...’

Compared to the Marcus Elbridge had first met, his improvement was beyond remarkable.

Experience had helped, and being chosen by the God of Fox Rain to accumulate divinity had aided him in many ways.

After traveling like that for around fifteen days, Elbridge’s group reached a midway stop.

* * *

Snow-covered mountains had been visible for several days, and before they knew it, the range stood close before them.

Elbridge pointed to a narrow gap between the mountains.

“That is Hebron Fortress.”

A massive white structure blocking an enormous valley.

The wall of the North. Hebron Fortress.

Rombel murmured nostalgically.

“Even in the old days, if you wanted people to say you had served in the North, you had to stay at Hebron Fortress or farther north. The area around the Norens River wasn’t even considered the North.”

Hebron Fortress was famous for never having fallen, from ancient times to the present.

The people defending it had been wiped out before...

Still, the fortress itself had never fallen.

As Elbridge massaged Sonia’s tired, drooping shoulders, he said, “Let’s rest at Hebron Fortress for a while before heading to Thornbush Forest.”

“Is there anywhere to rest in a fortress?”

“It should have most basic facilities. Hebron Fortress is much larger than it looks. And there should be plenty of people, since everyone nearby must have fled here.”

There was one problem.

It was close to sunset, and the gates of Hebron Fortress were closing.

More precisely, Elbridge’s group arrived just as the pulley connected to the gate was almost fully wound.

Elbridge shouted up at the wall.

“Can’t we get in today?”

A knight on the wall looked down at the group and shouted back.

“We don’t open the gates after sunset! Return tomorrow!”

“There aren’t even any demonic beasts nearby. Couldn’t you just open them for us?”

“Those are the rules! I can’t!”

Marcus muttered, “Damn it.”

Just as Elbridge’s group was about to turn away bitterly, Johannes shouted.

“You there, human knight. What is your name?”

Knights did not hide their names. Hiding one’s name meant one had done something dishonorable.

The young knight atop the wall answered proudly.

“Mason! Mason of Hebron Fortress!”

“Mason. Do not try to force human rules upon elves.”

Put simply, Johannes meant that he did not care about regulations and Mason should just open the gate.

“I can’t. Those are the rules!”

Just as Mason firmly refused and turned to leave, Johannes called out again.

“Sir Mason. Do you know that elves have excellent eyesight and memories?”

“...I do, but why are you suddenly asking that?”

“I simply wanted to tell you that Johannes, a Pre-Sentinel of Thornbush Forest, has clearly seen your face, Sir Mason.”

As if they had been waiting for it, Aurelius and Selene shouted as well.

“Pre-Sentinels Aurelius and Selene will remember your name too!”

“Do not forget that an elf’s grudge lasts a thousand years!”

An unmistakably uncomfortable look appeared on Mason’s face.

“...”

It was well known that elves did not forget grudges.

They were a race that remembered grievances from a hundred years ago as if they had happened yesterday, and they supported collective punishment more actively than anyone else.

“Damn elves. Seriously...”

Mason muttered and gestured below the wall. The pulley began to unwind again.

Creeeeak. Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.

Clunk.

The gates opened once more.

The soldiers who had to unwind the pulley they had just finished winding looked quietly resentful.

Elbridge, Sonia, and Marcus avoided the soldiers’ gazes. Even Rombel did the same.

The three elves were different. Their expressions went beyond confidence and bordered on shamelessness.

Johannes spoke proudly to the soldiers.

“Never again force human rules upon elves.”

“...”

The group entered Hebron Fortress.

The inside of Hebron Fortress was not flashy, but it was quite large and imposing. The cliffs enclosing both sides of the fortress were especially impressive.

It was not simply big and grand. It also had a practical, charming feel.

All kinds of shops were tucked between the military facilities, and taverns that doubled as inns had been carved into the cliffs.

Sonia said, “It’s a livelier city than I expected.”

Still, this was a different sort of liveliness than an ordinary, prosperous town. Perhaps it could be called a gray kind of liveliness.

It was the liveliness unique to military barracks, where everyone tried to enjoy every brief moment of rest between battles to the fullest.

Sonia and Marcus seemed slightly uncomfortable with the atmosphere, but Elbridge and Rombel were used to it.

“It feels like I’ve come home...”

As Rombel looked around the streets and recalled old memories, he sniffed the air.

“I smell soup. I think they’re handing out dinner.”

“Handing out dinner? They give out food?”

When Marcus asked in surprise, Selene answered.

“Hebron Fortress is a military facility. People who want good food pay for it, but people who want to save money eat the provided meal. It tastes better than you’d expect. It’s over there.”

The three elves naturally joined the food line and beckoned to the others.

“What are you doing? Hurry up.”

The group took wooden bowls and waited their turn.

A little later, familiar people approached and lined up behind Elbridge’s group.

It was Mason, who had been atop the wall earlier, and the soldiers who had been winding the pulley connected to the gate.

Mason looked at the three elves and muttered, “You reject human rules, but you sure eat human food well...”

Aurelius answered proudly.

“Do not discriminate against elves just because our races are different, human.”

“...Wow.”

Then the soldier handing out dinner lifted a huge ladle and poured soup into Aurelius’s bowl.

Yet Aurelius did not move on. He looked proudly at the soldier.

“Give me more.”